Family Energy Day: Go green, save some green

By Lee Stephens….Miami-Dade County, along with Dream in Green, the Miami Science Museum (MiaSci) and Radio Disney AM 990, is hosting Family Energy Day on Saturday, Mar. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the museum, 3280 S. Miami Ave.

Miami-Dade parents and children can come out and learn how to be environmentally friendly by playing interactive games with the Radio Disney Road Crew, participating in a Home Energy Savings Workshop and visiting energy exhibits at the museum.

The Radio Disney Road Crew, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will be holding interactive games with a “green” theme where kids and families can learn about being good to our planet while winning some cool prizes.
Miami-Dade residents also can attend a Miami-Dade Home Energy Savings Workshop from noon to 1:30 p.m. (registration begins at 11:30 a.m.). The workshop is being held in collaboration with Dream in Green to educate residents on energy efficiency and conservation and provide homeowners with information, resources and incentives to reduce their utility costs.

Participants will receive a free energy savings toolkit (limit one per household) valued at over $100 and will learn to track household energy consumption/reduction. To register, call 3-1-1 or visit <http://green.miamidade.gov>. The workshop has limited space, and is open to the first 50 registered residents.

All event participants will have free access to MiaSci’s Energy Garden from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., which includes the Human YoYo and the Giant Lever outdoor full-body exhibits. First, turn your body into a human yoyo and rocket yourself 10 feet in the air. Then, how would you like to be as strong as a giant? Experiment with the Giant Lever to lift not one, not two, not three, but as many as your friends as you can.

In addition, Miami-Dade families that register for the Home Energy Savings Workshop will receive free entrance to the museum where they can enjoy the Energy Tracker exhibit. Throughout all of MiaSci is an ever-growing interconnected trail of hands-on exhibits that explore everything from basic energy principles to the future of renewable energy.

Grab your ticket, select a line to follow, and visit stations along the route to track and identify different forms of energy. At the final stop, there’s a prize for each completed ticket!

The Family Energy Day is part of the county’s energy efficiency campaign, a communitywide energy education program managed by the Miami-Dade Office of Sustainability that will engage residents to gain support for energy conservation, renewable energy, recycling, and waste reduction and serve as a catalyst for long-term behavior changes resulting in reduced energy usage.